Saying Sorry

Sometimes it is just said if we bump into someone or some other minor mishap,but that is not the sort of sorry i am talking about.

Saying sorry in the sense that you feel really bad for doing something and by saying it you are determined never to repeat it.

I was listening to a programme on the radio about restorative justice. Where criminals are made to confront their victims and asked to say sorry.Whether they mean it or not,but the gesture has a cathartic effect on the recipient. The victim is comforted to a certain degree that perhaps the perpetrator is really ashamed of his deeds.

I am not sure if this stops re offending, or if it makes up for the loss and the grief the victim has suffered but at least it is a step in the right direction I feel.

We go through life finding it hard to apologise. I very readily say sorry, you could say I have no pride,perhaps. It does not worry me or seems hard to say sorry. Sometimes though others find it hard to accept an apology, to move on and not judge the person in the light of their past mistakes. This must be true in the case of those criminals who face restorative justice. It is very controversial. I though believe in it that at least in that one brief moment that person has accepted his mistake,may be has looked into his soul and seen that it is something bad. Even that one brief moment or pause for thought is enough I think.

So how about you? Do you believe in saying sorry? Do you accept an apology and move on or you doubt that the person may be just paying lip service?